


What It's Worth

by whynot



Series: Gage and Bishop [5]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-05 06:48:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12789111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whynot/pseuds/whynot
Summary: I wanna write Nate and Kay's conversation in Nate's perspective, so I'm not putting it here-ellie





	What It's Worth

The look on Nate's face told Kay immediately that something was wrong. There wasn't a hint of amusement or flirtation, something that was ever-present in the guy's eyes. 

"What's going on?" Kay asked him.

Nate took in a slow, quiet breath, then sealed his lips. Kellogg gave his shoulder a squeeze. "A couple of days ago..." He glanced away.

"Is this somethin' ya need to talk to Mae about? 'Cause she's right here—"

"No, Kay." He took in another slow breath. "A few days ago, your old boss showed up. Motor Runner. We have him caged in Backstage."

A heady wave of nausea washed through Kay so abruptly and so heavily it made him dizzy, blurred his vision. Dread spread like heat over his chest and spiked up his neck. "I don't..." A shallow breath spasmed out of him. "I need to..."

"Kay—"

He flinched away from Gage. "Don't. Don't touch me right now." He looked back at Nate. "I needa see him."

Nate nodded, but didn't move. "I want you to listen to me, Kay. All right? Then you can see him." He didn't give Kay a chance to respond before he continued, "I know what it's like to have a boss that manipulates you, fucks with your head—"

Kay didn't want to hear it. "Let me see him."

Nate sighed. "Okay. C'mon."

"I'm coming too," Gage piped up, and Kay didn't have it in him to argue. They followed Nate and Kellogg towards the Amphitheater, but surprisingly, Mae and Mason didn't. Maybe they were going to check around the park, make sure everything was in order. Kay didn't put much thought into it.

Nate cleared all of Backstage, even though the cage that Runner was in was located in a back room. It was just like the cages outside. The Fiend boss lifted his head, and his eyes widened before his sleazy grin split his face. "Hey, kid."

During the walk here, Kay had been planning to lay into Runner, to take his bat and break every single bone in the fucker's body, screaming his hate and his anger. Instead, he responded gently, "Hey, boss." 

"You're lookin' good," Runner told him. "Guess your new boss wants to keep you nice and pretty, too. Where is he, anyway?"

He didn't verbally respond, just turned to Gage.

"Yeah? Huh." Runner looked Gage up and down. "Bishop's a good fuck, ain't he? Damn near all he's good for." He laughed. "That, and he's amazin' with a bat."

Gage reached for his pistol, but Kay gripped his wrist. "Don't."

"What's with the hostility?" Runner questioned.

"Gage isn't just my boss," Kay told him, and it took Runner a moment to realize what he meant.

"You got in his head good, didn't ya," the Fiend said to Gage. "Made him think it's more than it really is. Smart. Makes the kid more... compliant."

"It ain't like that," Kay growled before Gage had a chance to speak. "Gage doesn't treat me like some kind of fuck toy that's worth less than bighorner shit. Doesn't toss me around."

"Lemme ask ya somethin', kid. When did he first have you fuck 'im? Hm? My guess is early in the first week you've been here. And he's hadta have thrown a punch at ya at least once. Am I right on both counts?"

His expression answered for him.

"He's your boss, Kay. Ain't no way you'll be anything to him besides what you were to me."

Kay took a step closer to the cage. "Gage is good to me," he bit out. "Way better than you ever were."

"Are you sayin' I was never good to you? C'mon, kid, that ain't fair."

"I ain't sayin' that," Kay responded, because it was true. There were times when Runner had shocked him with little bouts of kindness. Took care of him when he was coming down from a bad high, held him after a nightmare, watched his back in fights. 

What if he was right? Kay knew he was easy to manipulate. So what if Gage was playing the same game that Runner was, and Kay didn't realize because he was just a better player? The possibility made him feel sick, had a heated fog rise in his mind.

"Kayden!"

Gage's voice broke through to him, and Kay looked at him in surprise. 

"You ain't actually listenin' to this fucker, are you?" Gage asked.

Before Kay could respond, Runner spoke up, "I know how much Jessup meant to you. I'm sorry I had ta kill him." There wasn't a hint of remorse in his voice. If anything, there was amusement.

"You ain't worthy ta even speak his fuckin' name," Kay told him lowly. "Won't be able to in a second." He turned to Gage. "Leave me alone with 'im, big man." 

Gage opened his mouth, shifted his weight like he wanted to argue. But after studying Kay's expression, he seemed to realize that he needed this. So Gage left, and Kay grabbed his bat.

 

***

 

When Bishop didn't show up after four hours, Gage went to check on him, only to find the kid gone and Runner's body reduced to looking like a Super Mutant's gore bag. He went to Shorty, knowing he must have seen his brother leave since he'd been keeping an eye out anyway.

"You should leave him be," Shorty told him. "He wouldn't even talk to me after he came outta there. Give him time."

"Giving Kay time alone to think isn't usually the best decision," Gage countered. "He gets ideas and assumptions in his head, and... I just needa check on him."

Shorty hesitated before nodding. "Just... be careful with 'im."

Gage gave his shoulder a squeeze, then left the Amphitheater. His search for Bishop was short-lived, Nate halting him before he got too far.

"You're looking for Bishop?" the Director asked.

"Yeah, and I think I know where he is."

Nate shifted his weight, glancing away for a moment before requesting, "Let me talk to him instead. I know what he's going through, Gage. He needs someone who understands. You're just gonna end up frustrated. 'Sides, right now, I think his boss is the last person he wants to see."

"I ain't just his boss," Gage stressed.

"Please, just trust me on this. Please?"

Gage already knew that if he went to find Bishop himself, he'd just end up making the kid upset. "Fine. Be careful with him, all right?"

"I know the mentality he's in. I won't hurt 'im."

 

* * *

 

For three hours, Gage waited for Bishop in their loft, left alone with his thoughts.

_Just his boss. That's all it comes down to, isn't it. I might as well be just his boss who fucks him._

The door finally opened, and Bishop stepped inside to the dim room. He stripped off his clothes and slid into bed, crawling over Gage and leaning down to press his lips under his jaw. Gage gripped the back of his neck and squeezed, welcomed the kiss that Bishop lifted his head to give him.

_Wanna be more than just his boss._

Gage took Bishop's face in his hands and forced him to meet his gaze through the dark. "... Marry me."

A heavy breath spasmed out of Bishop, his eyelids fluttering. His eyes glossed over, and a smile split his face before he ducked his head against Gage's neck. "Fuck, I love you. You ain't gotta marry me, big man."

"I want you to know that I'm more than just your boss who fucks you. I want everyone to know."

"I do know that. Ain't a doubt in my mind. Not anymore. And as for everyone else? Fuck 'em. They don't matter..." He breathed out a laugh. "Damn near stopped my heart, askin' me that."

Gage kissed him. "I love you, Kay." He prepared himself to hear Bishop argue, to tell Gage that it was a bad call.

Instead he responded with a grin, "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna write Nate and Kay's conversation in Nate's perspective, so I'm not putting it here
> 
> -ellie


End file.
